Is there a correlation between viral load and olfactory &amp; taste dysfunction in COVID-19 patients?

Jain, Avani; Pandey, Ashok; Kaur, Jasleen; Kumar, Lakshit; Singh, Mitasha; Das, Suman; Purohit, S.

doi:10.1016/j.amjoto.2021.102911

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…We found that primary cases experiencing loss of taste/smell, a distinctive feature of COVID-19 [22] was associated with a significant increase in SAR, possibly due to the observed increase in viral load in participants reporting loss of taste/smell. The association between taste/smell impairment and higher viral load has also been found by others [23,24]. This may be dependent on variant, as we found that loss of taste/smell was more common amongst primary cases with the alpha variant.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2; a prospective longitudinal study showing higher viral load and transmissibility of the Alpha variant compared to previous strains

Julin

Robertson

Hungnes

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background We studied the secondary attack rate (SAR), risk factors, and precautionary practices of household transmission in a prospective longitudinal study. Moreover, we compared household transmission between the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant and non-variants of concern (non-VOCs). Methods We recruited households of confirmed COVID-19 cases from May 2020 to May 2021. Households received 8 home visits over 6 weeks. Biological samples and questionnaire data were collected. Results We recruited 70 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 146 household contacts. Transmission occurred in 60% of the households; the overall SAR for household contacts was 49.6%. The SAR was significantly higher for the Alpha variant (77.8%) compared with non-VOC variants (42.5%) and was associated with a higher viral load. SAR was higher in household contacts aged ≥40 years (64%) than in younger contacts (40-47%), and for contacts of cases with loss of taste/smell. Close contact prior to confirmation of infection tended to give a higher SAR. A significantly lower SAR was found for sleeping separately from the primary case after confirmation of infection. Conclusion We found substantial household transmission, particularly for the Alpha variant. Precautionary practices seem to reduce SAR; however, prevention of transmission within households may become difficult with more transmissible variants.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2; a prospective longitudinal study showing higher viral load and transmissibility of the Alpha variant compared to previous strains

Julin

Robertson

Hungnes

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Cho et al 30 evaluated the correlations between the viral Ct determined on the rhino‐pharyngeal swab and self‐reported olfactory loss in 85 COVID‐19 patients, without finding significant correlations. Conversely, in a study with the same methodological setting by Jain et al, 31 a statistically significant correlation between self‐reported chemosensory loss and lower Ct values (i.e., a higher viral load) was reported.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Only two studies have previously evaluated the correlation between OD and viral load in COVID‐19 patients 30 , 31 with conflicting results. Cho et al 30 evaluated the correlations between the viral Ct determined on the rhino‐pharyngeal swab and self‐reported olfactory loss in 85 COVID‐19 patients, without finding significant correlations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only two studies have previously evaluated the correlations between viral load at the rhino‐pharyngeal swab and presence of OD. 30 , 31 Both of these studies have the merit of having first investigated the possible correlations between viral load and severity of chemosensitive disorders in COVID‐19 patients but present some limitations which may have influenced the results obtained. First, the assessment of the olfactory function was not based on psychophysical tests and it has been shown that self‐reported olfactory loss alone significantly underestimates the real prevalence of smell disorders in COVID‐19 patients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Correlations Between Olfactory Psychophysical Scores and SARS‐CoV‐2 Viral Load in COVID‐19 Patients

et al. 2021

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Objectives/Hypothesis: The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlations between the severity and duration of olfactory dysfunctions (OD), assessed with psychophysical tests, and the viral load on the rhino-pharyngeal swab determined with a direct method, in patients affected by coronavirus disease 2019 .Study design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: Patients underwent psychophysical olfactory assessment with Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center test and determination of the normalized viral load on nasopharyngeal swab within 10 days of the clinical onset of COVID-19.Results: Sixty COVID-19 patients were included in this study. On psychophysical testing, 12 patients (20% of the cohort) presented with anosmia, 11 (18.3%) severe hyposmia, 13 (18.3%) moderate hyposmia, and 10 (16.7%) mild hyposmia with an overall prevalence of OD of 76.7%. The overall median olfactory score was 50 (interquartile range [IQR] 30-72.5) with no significant differences between clinical severity subgroups. The median normalized viral load detected in the series was 2.56E+06 viral copies/10 6 copies of human beta-2microglobulin mRNA present in the sample (IQR 3.17E+04-1.58E+07) without any significant correlations with COVID-19 severity. The correlation between viral load and olfactory scores at baseline (R 2 = 0.0007; P = .844) and 60-day follow-up (R 2 = 0.0077; P = .519) was weak and not significant.Conclusions: The presence of OD does not seem to be useful in identifying subjects at risk for being super-spreaders or who is at risk of developing long-term OD. Similarly, the pathogenesis of OD is probably related to individual factors rather than to viral load and activity.

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“…Jain et al, comparing the cycle threshold (CT) value on PCR assay in COVID-19 patients with and without OGD, found out that patients with olfactory dysfunction had higher viral load than those without perceptual impairment [51] . However, Vaira et al and Cho et al did not find a significant correlation between the CT value and the olfactory function, suggesting that the OGD severity might be related to individual susceptibility rather than viral load [52] , [53] . Further studies investigating the correlation of viral load and the chemosensory dysfunction COVID-19 related are needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Clinical, virological and immunological evolution of the olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in COVID-19

Maiorano

Calastri

Robotti

et al. 2022

American Journal of Otolaryngology

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Purpose New-onset olfactory and gustatory dysfunction (OGD) represents a well-acknowledged COVID-19 red flag. Nevertheless, its clinical, virological and serological features are still a matter of debate. Materials and methods For this cohort study, 170 consecutive subjects with new-onset OGD were consecutively recruited. Otolaryngological examination, OGD subjective grading, nasopharyngeal swabs (NS) for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection and serum samples (SS) collection for SARS-CoV-2 IgG quantification were conducted at baseline and after one (T1), two (T2) and four weeks (T3). Results SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed in 79% of patients. Specifically, 43% of positive patients were detected only by SS analysis. The OGD was the only clinical complaint in 10% of cases. Concurrent sinonasal symptoms were reported by 45% of patients. Subjective improvement at T3 was reported by 97% of patients, with 40% recovering completely. Hormonal disorders and RNA detectability in NS were the only variables associated with OGD severity. Recovery rate was higher in case of seasonal influenza vaccination, lower in patients with systemic involvement and severe OGD. Not RNA levels or IgG titers were correlated with recovery. Conclusion Clinical, virological and serological features of COVID-19 related OGD were monitored longitudinally, offering valuable hints for future research on the relationship between host characteristics and chemosensory dysfunctions.

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Is there a correlation between viral load and olfactory & taste dysfunction in COVID-19 patients?

Cited by 23 publications

References 13 publications

Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2; a prospective longitudinal study showing higher viral load and transmissibility of the Alpha variant compared to previous strains

Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2; a prospective longitudinal study showing higher viral load and transmissibility of the Alpha variant compared to previous strains

Correlations Between Olfactory Psychophysical Scores and SARS‐CoV‐2 Viral Load in COVID‐19 Patients

Clinical, virological and immunological evolution of the olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in COVID-19

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